Egg cartons



A ril 14, 1970 A, SNOW ETAL 3,506,182

EGG CARTONS Filed Sept. 20, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ,7% m n9 lg ,0 Elia a Izab 21's. /E/M d 3'9 1 p", 1 I

A ril 14, 1970 GASNOW ETAL 3,506,182

EGG CARTONS Filed Sept. 20, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a Vl/AI 3 13w 3 mm 2-. A by I United States Patent EGG CARTONS Gerald A. Snow, Cumberland Foreside, and Harold A.

Doughty, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, assignors to United Industrial Syndicate, Inc., Portland, Maine, a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 20, 1968, Ser. No. 761,217 Int. Cl. B65d 1/00, /66, 85/32 US. Cl. 229-44 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Egg cartons are disclosed in which locking flaps are hinged to fold against the outer surface of the front walls of the covers and provided with locking pins for entry through holes therein, the locking pins preferably serving to prevent flap shoulder structure from moving out of a position locking flap structure at the front of the cover against supporting structure at the front of the bottom.

The present invention relates to molded cartons and particularly to the means by which they are releasably held closed.

Cartons in accordance with the invention are adapted for other uses, but are primarily intended for use as egg containers. While the various types of egg cartons now in use have been well accepted, there is a demand for cartons having more positive locking means to hold them closed. Locking means of the type requiring a locking flap adapted to be folded upwardly and inwardly to underlie the front wall of the cover and having projections disposed to extend through holes in the cover afford considerable play of the cover relative to the carton bottom and can be accidentally opened if the carton is lifted with the margin of the front cover wall instead of the subjacent portion of the carton bottom.

The general objective of the invention is to provide a carton lock that may be used with carton closing apparatus that are now in use, although requiring adjustment in their operation, and that not only permits a carton to be lifted safely by its cover but also requires a definite and distinct unlocking movement on the part of the user. In accordance -with the invention this objective is attained by providing the cover with outwardly disposed shoulder structure below a hole in its front wall and a flap hingedly connected to the front of the carton bottom to swing upwardly against the outer surface of the front wall of the cover, the flap including shoulder structure to seat the flange structure of the cover against supporting structure at the front of the carbon bottom, the flap having a locking pin extending through the cover hole to prevent the flap from moving from its locking position.

In the accompanying drawings, there are shown embodiments of the invention illustrative of these and other of the objectives, novel features, and advantages.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view thereof,

FIG. 2 is a section on an increased scale, taken approximately along the indicated lines 22 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a partly sectioned end view of a carton in accordance with another embodiment of the invention, and

FIG. 4 is a section, on an increased scale, taken approximately along the indicated lines 44 of FIG. 3.

The molded car-ton shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a bottom generally indicated at provided with rows of egg receiving pockets or cells 11, the carton being of the type having two rows, each row having six such pockets. The outer cell walls define the front, rear, and Walls of the carton bottom which includes a marginal flange 12.

The carton cover, generally indicated at 13, has front, rear, and end walls terminating in a marginal flange 14, the flanges 12 and 14 being integrally and hingedly interconnected at the rear of the carton so that the cover may be swung between open and closed positions. Between the pockets 11, the flange 12 includes pocket-connecting webs establishing braced supports 15 The front wall 16 of the cover 13 has elongated, stiffening projections, generally indicated at 17, one such projection adjacent each end of the wall 16 and having its outer wall 18 more nearly perpendicular than the wall 16. Between the projections 17, the front wall 16 has recesses generally indicated at 19 and defining bottom shoulders 20 inclusive of the flange 14 and inner walls 21 substantially parallel to the wall 18. In practice, there are three recesses 19 and each of the two end recesses 19 has a hole 22 in its wall 21 while the middle recess 19 serves as a finger guide in opening the carton. Each of the recesses 19 is in alignment with a space between the upper portions of eggs seated in adjacent pockets 11.

A flap, generally indicated at 23 includes a marginal portion 24 integrally and hingedly connected to the flange 12 of the carton bottom 10 and an angularly disposed wall portion 25 provided with recesses, each generally indicated at 26. There is one recess 26 for each of the end "recesses 19 and shaped and dimensioned to fit therein and each recess 26 establishes a shoulder 27 at right angles to the marginal portion 24 and a wall 28 disposed approximately at right angles to the shoulder 27 and substantially parallel to the projection wall 18. Each recess wall 28 has a hollow projection 29 constituting a locking pin and having an annular enlargement 30 larger than a hole 22 but yieldable to enable the locking pin to be pushed through or withdrawn from it while providing means for preventing accidental detachment of the flap 23.

In use, the cover 13 is closed against the carton bottom 10 and the flap 23 is then swung upwardly against the front wall of the cover until the locking pins 29 have been forced through the holes 22. In order that the cover wall 16 may resist the force then applied, its shoulders 20 are provided with channels 31 receiving ribs 32 on the supports 15. When the locking pins 29 are caught by the cover wall 16, the shoulders '27 are held in their locking position maintaining the cover shoulders 20 seated against the supports 15 thereby holding the carton closed until the flap 23 is pulled away from the cover wall 16 to release the locking pins 29.

While the locking pins 29 may be used solely to lock the cover 13 to the carton bottom 10, in the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, their function is to hold the flap 23 in its operative position in which it holds the carton closed.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated by FIGS. 3 and 4, the same reference numerals are employed to designate corresponding parts and these are dis tinguished by the sufiix addition A. In this embodiment, the holes 22A are vertical slots through which the looking pins 29A enter freely but have at least one lateral projection 30A which may be forced through a slot 22A to maintain the shoulders 27A of the flap 23A in a position seating the cover shoulders 20A against the supports 15A. In this embodiment of the invention, the cover would be free to move vertically relative thereto were its shoulders 20A not held down by the shoulders 27A.

From the foregoing, it will :be appreciated that cartons in accordance with the invention are well adapted to meet requirements of use as well as those of carton production with locking means that offer exceptional security.

We claim:

1. A molded carton comprising a bottom including a plurality of egg receiving pockets arranged in parallel rows, a cover including a top and depending front, side and rear walls, the rear cover wall being integrally and hingedly interconnected to the rear edge of said bottom, said front cover wall having a hole therein, and a flap integrally and hingedly connected to the front edge of said bottom to swing upwardly into and downwardly out of an operative position against the outer surface of the front wall of the cover when the carton is closed, said flap including a headed projection disposed and dimensioned for entry through said hole when the flap is seated against said front cover wall, and the front wall of the cover and the front edge of the bottom including portions that interengage, when the carton is closed, to resist inward movement of the front wall of the cover as the projection is extended inwardly therethrough.

2. The molded carton of claim 1 in which the projec tion is yieldable and hollow and is dimensioned relative to the hole to be forced therethrough.

3. The molded carton of claim 1 in which the interengaged portions are of the tongue and groove type.

4. A molded carton comprising a bottom including a plurality of egg receiving pockets arranged in parallel rows and marginal supporting structure along its front edge, a cover including a top and depending front, side and rear walls, the rear cover wall being integrally and hingedly interconnected to the rear edge of the bottom, said front cover wall having a hole therein and including shoulder structure engage-able with the supporting structure when the cover is closed, and a flap integrally and hingedly connected to the front Wall of said bottom to swing upwardly into and downwardly out of an operative position against the outer surface of the front wall of the cover when the carton is closed, said flap including a headed projection disposed and dimensioned for entry through said hole as the flap is seated against said front cover wall and shoulder structure then engageable with shouider structure of the cover, said projection holding said flap from swinging into a cover-releasing position, said flap including a shoulder overlying and engaging the shoulder structure of the front wall of the cover when the flap is held against the outer surface of the front wall by the projection.

5. The molded carton of claim 4 in which the supporting structure of the carton bottom is located between the outer portions of a pair of pockets and the front cover slopes downwardly and outwardly and includes a recess providing a bottom wall and a substantially vertical inner wall, the bottom wall being the shoulder structure of the cover and the hole being in the inner wall.

6. The molded carton of claim 5 in which the flange structure of the cover and the supporting structure of the bottom include complemental rib and channel portions.

7. The molded carton of claim 4 in which the opening is a vertical slot whose width is less than the width of the projection.

- 8. The molded carton of claim 4 in which the projection is hollow and resiliently yieldable and dimensioned relative to the hole to be forced therethrough.

9. The molded projection of claim 8 in which the headed portion of the projection is annular.

10. The molded projection of claim 8 in which the headed portion of the projection is laterally disposed.

.11. The molded carton of claim 5 in which the flap includes a recess providing a bottom wall and a substantially vertical inner wall, the bottom wall being the shoulder structure of the flap and the projection being in the inner wall.

12. The molded carton of claim 11 in which the flap recess is shaped and dimensioned to fit the cover wall recess.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,326,443 6/1967 Burkett 2292.5 3,362,605 l/l968 Bixler 2292.5 3,372,854- 3/1968- Marcus 229-25 X 3,398,875 I 8/1968 Snow et al. 229-25 DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 229--2.5, 

